40 DJs Come Together To Scratch, Including Jazzy Jeff, QBert, Craze & Z-Trip (Video)
These days, Hip-Hop loves a good cypher. MCs coming together to collaborate in the moment – a balance of competition and cohesion. But what about the DJs?
The Red Bull Music Academy recently assembled 40 of the world’s best DJs, and asked them to plug in, together at the academy’s Tokyo, Japan studios. Some of the revered turntablists include DJ QBert, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Shortkut, DJ Craze, DJ Z-Trip, DJ D-Styles and more—compromising of many coasts, and some of history’s touted crews.
In “a scratch circle” (inspired by drum-circles), Heads can hear a highly-technical jam session including some of the world’s finest hands on the 1’s and 2’s. This is high-speed scratching, and very innovative mixing from some of the DJs who have pioneered the transformer scratch, the crab scratch, and more. The battle styles are out, but in a cooperative fashion. A DJ moment like this is hard to produce anywhere else, ever again:
Related: Many Think DJ QBert Is The Best Turntablist Alive. Listen As He Obliterates a ’60s Soul (Mix)